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HEADLINES: Natural Gas Prices Seem Steady Despite Arctic Blast

Wherever you are, you’ve probably felt the extreme winter blast. Meteorologists have coined it “bombogenesis” and many are calling it “bomb cyclone” on social media. In spite of record natural gas consumption driven by that bitter cold snap that has assaulted the eastern U.S., benchmark gas prices have held relatively steady. That’s because markets are responding less to the weather than to the healthy supply of natural gas coming out of the Marcellus Shale and the Permian Basin. Another round of bitter cold is expected following the “bombogenesis” that is taking aim at the New York region.

In A&D news, Ultra Petroleum will exit its 73,000 net-acre Marcellus Shale position after it signed and closed a deal in late December to sell the nonoperated assets to an affiliate of Alta Resources. The $115 million deal includes the sale of gathering system assets jointly owned by Alta, which also operates the Marcellus assets. Ultra, based in Houston, said the deal isn’t expected to affect the company’s $1.4 billion borrowing base.

And finally, Penn Virginia says it will expand its core position in the Eagle Ford Shale with an $86 million dollar bolt-on acquisition. The company will acquire the additional working interests from Hunt Oil in properties the pure-play E&P now holds but doesn’t operate. The deal will add about 9,700 net acres in Penn Virginia’s Area 1, which is primarily in Gonzales and Lavaca counties in South Texas.